Yoemen give up school-record 80 points in loss to Rockdale

On Friday night, the Cameron Yoemen scored 54 points.  If you would have told the Yoemen faithful that was going to be the number before the opening kickoff, pretty much everyone would have told you it was going to be a good night.  

However, as most fans of the Battle of the Bell also know, the rivalry is always intense and can, at times, be unpredictable.  That would be the best way to describe the 62nd edition of this Milam County tilt, as Rockdale scored a total of 12 touchdowns in an 80-54 shootout victory.

"It didn't go very well for us tonight," said Yoemen head coach Tommy Brashear.  "We did some good things at times, but we made a lot of mistakes.  Rockdale is a very good football team.  They have a lot of players on the field that are good, and you cannot make those kind of mistakes.  We had way too many penalties and you cannot do that against a good football team."

The 134 combined points was the most scored in the series.  Additionally, the 80 points given up by the Yoemen was not only the most given up in the series, but the most all-time to any opponent in any game.  In Cameron's 1-9 2003 season, the Marlin Bulldogs scored 70 in the season finale.  

"I kind of thought we were in the Pac-12 for a little bit there as high as the score was," said Brashear.  "That is what it made me think of."

Coming into this game, it was known Rockdale was going to have speed, particularly with QB David Franklin, RB Davion Ford and WR Jaquayln Crawford.  The trio had some role in 11 of Rockdale's 12 scores on the night.  Perry Jackson's 45-yard interception return for a touchdown was the lone other score to begin the third quarter. 

Cameron did battle offensively most of the evening.  Penalties and turnovers plagued the Yoemen, but the score was just 35-26 at the half.  QB Zack Andress scored the first touchdown of the game, running it in from six yards out to put Cameron up 7-0.  Andress hit Welsh for 43-yards and 29-yards, which was followed up by running back Tydrick Williams' 31-yard scamper to conclude the scoring for Cameron in the half. 

The Tigers never gave an inch, quickly answering the Yoemen with a 65-yard kickoff return from Crawford to tie the game up at 7-7.  Ford's (21 yards, 3 yards) and Franklin's (20 yards) touchdown runs opened up things through the air as Franklin hit Tyler Lehmkuhl for a 20-yard touchdown pass in the half. 

Just when you thought the defenses might settle in after 61 points in the first half, a total of 61 points were then put up on the board in the third quarter alone.  The third began with Jackson's interception return.  A Ford 75-yard kickoff return, Ford 64-yard run, Ford 2-yard run and Franklin 55-yard pass to Crawford gave Rockdale 33 points.  The Tigers added on a pair of TD passes in the fourth, both from Franklin to Crawford. 

Yoe's scoring consisted of two passes from Andress to Sicory Smith (34 yards and 16 yards), to go along with a 3-yard run by Nico Vargas and a 51-yard kickoff return from Levi May.  

The loss sends the Yoemen to 6-2 and 3-1 in 10-3A.  Cameron has Academy at home and Troy on the road to close the regular season.  Rockdale improves to 6-1 and 3-0 in district.  The Tigers control their own destiny for the district championship, but do still have games with Franklin and McGregor left on the schedule.  

"We have to keep playing and get better," said Brashear.  "Who knows, we might see them in the playoffs again.  If we do, we've both had a really good season.  Hopefully we can do a little better job next time.  Our season hopefully has a long way to go.  We can't just give up or quit and say the season is over.  We've got to pick it up and keep going.  I expect we will."

SCORING

1st Quarter

Cameron - Zack Andress 6-yard run - Luna kick - 7-0 Yoe - 10:19

Rockdale - Jaquayln Crawford 65-yard kickoff return - Devin Moreno kick - 7-7 - 10:02

Cameron - Andress 43-yard pass to Bryce Welsh - Luna kick - 14-7 Yoe - 5:44

Rockdale - Davion Ford 21-yard run - Moreno kick - 14-14 - 3:01

Cameron - Tydrick Williams 31-yard run - kick failed - 20-14 Yoe - 0:52

2nd Quarter

Rockdale - Ford 3-yard run - Moreno kick - 21-20 Rockdale - 9:22

Rockdale - David Franklin 22-yard pass to Tyler Lehmkuhl - Moreno kick - 28-20 Rockdale - 6:30

Cameron - Andress 29-yard pass to Welsh - run failed - 28-26 Rockdale - 4:07

Rockdale - Franklin 20-yard run - Moreno kick - 35-26 Rockdale - 0:39

3rd Quarter

Rockdale - Perry Jackson 45-yard interception return - Moreno kick - 42-26 Rockdale - 10:26

Cameron - Andress 34-yard pass to Sicory Smith - Pass failed - 42-32 Rockdale - 9:19

Rockdale - Ford 75-yard kickoff return - kick blocked - 48-32 Rockdale - 9:06

Cameron - Andress 16-yard pass to Smith - Andress run - 48-40 Rockdale - 7:28

Rockdale - Ford 64-yard run - kick blocked - 54-40 Rockdale - 6:31

Rockdale - Ford 2-yard run - Moreno kick - 61-40 Rockdale - 3:33

Cameron - Nico Vargas 3-yard run - Luna kick - 61-47 Rockdale - 1:12

Rockdale - Franklin 55-yard pass to Crawford - Moreno kick - 68-47 Rockdale - 0:17

Cameron - Levi May 51-yard kickoff return - Luna kick - 68-54 Rockdale - 0:07

4th Quarter

Rockdale - Franklin 23-yard pass to Crawford - kick failed - 74-54 Rockdale - 8:24

Rockdale - Franklin 13-yard pass to Crawford - kick failed - 80-54 Rockdale - 3:52

STATS

Cameron Yoe

First Downs: 21

Rushing Yards: 24-177

Passing Yards: 335

Passes: 17-33-2

Punts: 2-38

Fumbles/Fumbles Lost: 1-1

Penalties: 10-125

INDIVIDUAL

Rushing: Tydrick Williams, 8-81; Zack Andress, 9-46; Sicroy Smith, 2-36; Iverson Westbrook, 2-30

Passing: Zack Andress, 17-33-2, 335 yards, 4 touchdowns

Receiving: Sicory Smith, 5-160; Bryce Welsh, 4-94; Jordan Wells, 4-27; Iverson Westbrook, 2-23; Levi May, 1-24

Rockdale

First Downs: 21

Rushing Yards: 38-271

Passing Yards: 167

Passes: 10-13-0

Punts: 2-33

Fumbles/Fumbles Lost: 0-0

Penalties: 12-92

INDIVIDUAL

Rushing: Davion Ford, 23-193; David Franklin, 10-51; Jaquayln Crawford, 3-16

Passing: David Franklin, 10-13-0, 167 yards, 4 touchdowns

Receiving: Jaquayln Crawford, 7-126; Tyler Lehmkuhl, 2-26; Davion Ford, 1-15

10-3A Scores

Rockdale 80 Cameron Yoe 54

McGregor 62 Jarrell 13

Troy 31 Academy 20

10-3A Standings

1. Rockdale 3-0

2. Cameron Yoe 3-1

3. Franklin 2-1

4. Troy 2-2

5. McGregor 1-2

5. Academy 1-2

7. Jarrell 0-4

Up Next

The Yoemen will look to bounce back by hosting the Academy Bumblebees on Friday night at the final home game of the year from Yoe Field.  Academy (4-3/1-2) has wins over Rogers (34-0), Whitney (29-20), Goldthwaite (21-14) and Jarrell (29-21).  The Bees have lost to Comanche (19-14, weather shortened game), Rockdale (56-13) and Troy (31-20).